Renowned inorganic chemist Herbert W. Roesky, University of Göttingen, Germany, celebrates his 85th birthday on November 6, 2020.

His research covers a wide range of inorganic and organometallic chemistry, specifically fluorine chemistry and the chemistry of main-group elements. Roesky also works on improving chemistry education and on popularizing science.

Herbert Walter Roesky was born in Laukischken (today Saranskoe, Russia) in 1935. He studied chemistry at the University of Göttingen, Germany, where he received his Ph.D. in 1963 under the supervision of Oskar Glemser for work on fluorination reactions under high pressure. After postdoctoral research at DuPont, Wilmington, DE, USA, and the completion of his habilitation in Göttingen in 1967, Roesky joined the University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1971 as Professor of Inorganic Chemistry. In 1980, he returned to Göttingen as Director of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, where he remained until his retirement in 2004.

Among many other honors, Roesky has received the Alfred Stock Memorial Award from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) in 1990, the Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie in 1998, the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry from the American Chemical Society in 2004, the Blaise Pascal Medal from the European Academy of Sciences, Belgium, in 2015, and several honorary doctorates.

He is a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Academia Europaea, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences, Brussels, the Leibniz-Sozietät der Wissenschaften, Berlin, and the European Academy of Science and Arts, Austria, a Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, an Honorary Member of the Chemical Research Society of India, and an Honorary Fellow of the National Indian Academy.

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Selected Publications

• A Neutral Three‐Membered 2π Aromatic Disilaborirane and the Unique Conversion into a Four‐Membered BSi₂N‐Ring,
  Samir Kumar Sarkar, Rinkumoni Chaliha, Mujahuddin M. Siddiqui, Samya Banerjee, Annika Münch, Regine Herbst‐Irmer, Dietmar Stalke, Eluvathingal D. Jemmis, Herbert W. Roesky,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202009638
• A Stable Singlet Biradicaloid Siladicarbene: (L:)₂Si,
  Kartik Chandra Mondal, Herbert W. Roesky, Martin C. Schwarzer, Gernot Frenking, Benedikt Niepötter, Hilke Wolf, Regine Herbst-Irmer, Dietmar Stalke,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 2963–2967.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201208307
• Efficient Preparation of Fluorine Compounds,
  Herbert W. Roesky (Ed.),
  John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA, 2012.
  ISBN: 978-1-118-07856-3
• Dichlorosilylene: A High Temperature Transient Species to an Indispensable Building Block,
  Rajendra S. Ghadwal, Ramachandran Azhakar, Herbert W. Roesky,
  Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 46, 444–456.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ar300196u
• High Yield Access to Silylene RSiCl (R = PhC(N^tBu)₂) and Its Reactivity toward Alkyne: Synthesis of Stable Disilacyclobutene,
  Sakya S. Sen, Herbert W. Roesky, Daniel Stern, Julian Henn, Dietmar Stalke,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 1123–1126.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja9091374
• Lewis Base Stabilized Dichlorosilylene,
  Rajendra S. Ghadwal, Herbert W. Roesky, Sebastian Merkel, Julian Henn, Dietmar Stalke,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 5683–5686.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200901766
• Experiments in Green and Sustainable Chemistry,
  Herbert W. Roesky, Dietmar Kennepohl, (Eds.)
  Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2009.
  ISBN: 978-3-527-32546-7
• The Chemistry of Aluminum(I), Silicon(II), and Germanium(II),
  Selvarajan Nagendran, Herbert W. Roesky,
  Organometallics 2008, 27, 457–492.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/om7007869
• Synthesis and Characterization of [PhC(N^tBu)₂]SiCl: A Stable Monomeric Chlorosilylene,
  Cheuk-Wai So, Herbert W. Roesky, Jörg Magull, Rainer B. Oswald,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 3948–3950.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200600647
• Chemical Curiosities: Spectacular Experiments and Inspired Quotes,
  Herbert W. Roesky, Klaus Möckel,
  Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 1996.
  ISBN: 978-3-527-29414-5

 

Also of Interest

• Heinrich Roessler Award for H. W. Roesky,
  ChemViews Mag. 2012.
  Herbert Roesky has been awarded the Heinrich Roessler Prize of the GDCh for his outstanding contribution to teaching